PAUL BLEY - Ballads
ECM 674 3478
Paul Bley (piano); Gary Peacock or Mark Levinson (double bass); Barry Altschul (drums)
Recorded March & July, 1967
Recorded over a couple of sessions in March and July 1967, but not released until 1971, this is not just a historic document for both ECM and in the career of Paul Bley but an invaluable set that captures a specific moment in time. Listening to this absorbing album again, so utterly contemporary does it sound, that it barely seems possible that this was recorded half a century ago and is also one of the first recordings to explore the free ballads of Annette Peacock.
So completely realised are the performances that it is difficult to comprehend that the musicians themselves were finding their way into the music, and discovering new means of expression. The album also seemingly splits itself into two distinctly different working methods, and it would be of interest to know what tracks were recorded in which of the two sessions, as the single long track recorded with Gary peacock on bass is very different to the trio with Mark Levinson. If anything the two peices featuring Levinson offer an easier way into the music for the listener.
The brief, at just under three minutes, 'Circles' is rooted to the melody and harmony, and also works within a predetermined and fixed meter. This is followed by 'So Hard it Hurts' whcih for some listeners may well be the case. The melody becomes more fragmented and the rhythms more creatively disturbed, and the composition is explored and reassembled over the course of the performance.
Thye most impressive piece, however, is the the opening 'Ending' that would have occupied all of the first side of the original LP. With Gary Peacock on bass duties the music is is even more fractured and abstract. There is, again, always present the sense of continuous melodic development and awareness of the composition, but played in an open rhythmic manner that is rarely allowed to settle.
The playing throughput is exceptional and the ballad feel and tempo is retained, and this gives a delicious sense of restraint that all clearly relish. Bleys touch at the piano is crystalline coaxing Annette Peacock;s melodies into life. Peacock is magisterial on 'Ending' and Altschul also excels on this long outstanding track. A fine release that stands tall within the pianist's extensive discography.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
ECM 674 3478
Paul Bley (piano); Gary Peacock or Mark Levinson (double bass); Barry Altschul (drums)
Recorded March & July, 1967
Recorded over a couple of sessions in March and July 1967, but not released until 1971, this is not just a historic document for both ECM and in the career of Paul Bley but an invaluable set that captures a specific moment in time. Listening to this absorbing album again, so utterly contemporary does it sound, that it barely seems possible that this was recorded half a century ago and is also one of the first recordings to explore the free ballads of Annette Peacock.
So completely realised are the performances that it is difficult to comprehend that the musicians themselves were finding their way into the music, and discovering new means of expression. The album also seemingly splits itself into two distinctly different working methods, and it would be of interest to know what tracks were recorded in which of the two sessions, as the single long track recorded with Gary peacock on bass is very different to the trio with Mark Levinson. If anything the two peices featuring Levinson offer an easier way into the music for the listener.
The brief, at just under three minutes, 'Circles' is rooted to the melody and harmony, and also works within a predetermined and fixed meter. This is followed by 'So Hard it Hurts' whcih for some listeners may well be the case. The melody becomes more fragmented and the rhythms more creatively disturbed, and the composition is explored and reassembled over the course of the performance.
Thye most impressive piece, however, is the the opening 'Ending' that would have occupied all of the first side of the original LP. With Gary Peacock on bass duties the music is is even more fractured and abstract. There is, again, always present the sense of continuous melodic development and awareness of the composition, but played in an open rhythmic manner that is rarely allowed to settle.
The playing throughput is exceptional and the ballad feel and tempo is retained, and this gives a delicious sense of restraint that all clearly relish. Bleys touch at the piano is crystalline coaxing Annette Peacock;s melodies into life. Peacock is magisterial on 'Ending' and Altschul also excels on this long outstanding track. A fine release that stands tall within the pianist's extensive discography.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
